The Sun. — London, England, 1809-11-28 00:00:00

'SPANISII PAPERS. SEVILLE, Nov. hire seen with much satisfa6lion a letter dated froM the heights of Bonn liar, about a league &Stant fitth Gerona, from which the following account is extradted : ' Since_ the 18th inst. Ole letter is of the 21st Oaober) General Lortnour occupies these heights with the division under his orders, composed of sbo men, and forming the advanced party of the troops who support the heroic defence of Gerona. — On the iDth, the enemy adVanced to reconnoitre that PoSition, and was repulsed loss: On the aoth, at break of day, he returned to the charge, and at 8 O'clock in the.morning, three of the enemy's camps were burning, Aid} some of our flying parties had set on fire. At one o'clock in the afternoon;the French attacked oar - troops with 3000 foot and 200 horse, but were so warmly received that they speed ily fell back to their camps. Our loss consists of 20 tillediand wounded, but that of the enemy Is far more considerable. Government has received the most satisfactory intelligence of the brilliant progress Made by the patriotic insurrection in Itidiga, Na- Narra, Alaba, and the eastern frontiers of Castile. TRUSILLO, OCT. 29. —The :French Division, coinmall h_y SOU LT, which was on its way to support Nwi's division, returned to Ontia before it reached Pica. In Talavera de la lleyna remain only the 3di 21st, and 27tb regitnent of dragoons. The Duke del Potatiz has transterred his head-quart s to Salamanca. CrUDAD 110DRIG0; OCT. 30.—Our army remains in Salamanca. It is known that General GARCIA bas fought sever-A - successful aattions with the French in the vicinity of Astorga. in which the latter lost soo of the 2600 indki with whom they formed the attack, 61.yrt.t.z, Nov. 3e—ln the remarkable sitting of the Supreme Junta, of the Ist instaut, the Archbi thop was elated Prysident. It appears that General AUGEREAU has arrived at the head-quartets of the Preach Army, which besieges Gerona, but without thy troops. According to intelligence received from ta Mancha, the enemy in retreating to Toledo; hive left only small parties in Ciudad, Real, Car tion, and Toiralva. The French head-quarters re- Itain, however in Daymiel and Toledo is said to be the rallying point of the retreating troops. LAW REPORT. ,Nov, COURT QV KlNG's BENCH N 17. KiNG v. A CISETAIN LARGE FISH CALLED A WEIALE. Mr. DAMP/ER thoved fora Rule to sliew cause Why aprohibition should not be direr ed tattle Ad-. Initatty-agninst. proceeding in this case. The plain tiff, the King, was- a. name' well known in - that - Court s ,but the other name, he believed,, had been never before heard of' as a party in any suit. It ay geared, that a whale bad been lately cast on shore at Gravesend, where it had been taken possession of on the part of the City of London, in their capacity Conservator of the River Thames. it-was after wards brought up the River to London • but when it arrived oppositc.Do&ors' Commons, Mr. Cricket, of the Admiralty, not knowing, probably, what' it w as , prdered it to be claimed as a droit of the Admiralty. A process was accordingly served on 'the whale, in virtue of which it was put in a state of cletainder, till the smell, arising from so immense b o dy of corruption (the whale being 15 feet in length), became so offensive, that it was found ne %teary to dispose of it. The whale, the Learned eounsel contended-, could in no sense of the word b considered as ,adroit or the Admiralty. It bad hot been taken at sea, but was actually found on the Kent side of the River, en the sand, INTRA CORPUS COMITATIS. _ _ Lord ELLENBOROUGH said, the Learned Counsel aright take his Rule. It would be necessary for Lim, however, to consider how he would entitle the ause, so as to bring it into that Court.. He must tittitle his affidavits as being in a certain cause, and they must also be properly entitled. Mr. DIM ram said ) the whale surely was eitid. A Channel fleet is ordered to be formed.—The Caledonia, Captain BEDFORD, (Lord GAMBIER'S flag-ship) and the San Joscf, Captain DUNN, (Sir J. T. Ducxwourves flag-ship), are ordered to be fitted for sea immediately,—The &gal Oak, 74, Lord AMELILIS BEAU cLEitd, is likewise intended for Channel service. Orders have been received at Sheerness dock aird, to put down twelve pair of new moorings, for 4n equal number of line-of-battle ships, in Saltpan Ileacn, for ships in ordinary. All Officers on the half-pay of the Commissariat Ore squired to deliver in their places of address, with k view to their being employed, if competent to ser tce, under penalty of being erased from the list. BOW-STREET.—John Chew s baker, of Henrietta- Went, Manchester-square, was last night ordered to find bail, for riotous and disorderly condu± in the pit, wearing 0. P. in his hat, and by his gene ml demeanour interrupting and disturbing the peace able part of the audience. SUICIDE.—On Saturday evening the report of a Distol was heard in Newington-fields, and early on Sund a y morning the body of a decently-dressed man, with part of his head blown off, was discover-- I d- The body was removed to the nearest house ; a nd on examining it, the words Cornelius Wynn, D enbigh, were found written on his shirt. From I ,"is trace the body was owned by 'the br o ther of I nc deceased on Sunday evening. He was originally the master of a respectable seminary, but in conse quence of temporary derangement, his school de- Itned, and the deceased had since lived in the hum tt ' his brother, a tradesman, in Phoenix street. I R. TO THE EARL CAMDEk, &C. &C. &C. Cloucier-Locig,e; Nov. 14, 1804. M LO'4D,—I had written to your LOrdsliip im mediately 'atter the .publication of your Lordship's 'Statement, but,l delayed sending my letter, in the hope of being able previonsly to submit it to the perusal of the Duke of Portland'. In this hope I hive been disappointed by . that fatal event, .which has deprived this country of one of its most upright and disinterested patriots ; the King, of one of his most faithful, devoted, and, af fe6ionate inbje6ts ; and the world one of the most blameless and most. noble-minded of men. Thus situated. I have thought it fight to revise what I had written, and scrupulously to expunge, every reference to the authority of the Duke of Portland, ,which would now stand upon my sole testimony; retaining such only as ale supported, either by wrilien documents which I slaall be happy to Communicant toyour Lordship, .or by facts which are.well known toyourLordship or to your colleagues, and in which for the most part your Lordship is' yourself concerned. Neither, however, can I content myself with this precaution ; but Must protest, at the same time, in the most earnest manner, against any possible mis construction, by which any thing iu,the following Letter can be strained to a meaning unfavourable to the motives which actuated the 'Duke of Portland's conduCl. • It is impossible, indeed; not to regret the policy, however wed intentioned,- which dktated the re serve pradised roirards Lord Castlereagh in the be ginning of thisiransattion i,or that practised towards myself in its conchision. It is to be regretted, that the Duke of Portland should have imposed; and that your Lordship should have accepted the condition of silence, _in the first Communications 'between yOu. _ . It is also to be regretted,' that I should not have learnt in July, that your Lordship Wii fit not party to the assurances then given ti me on behalf of Lord CaStlereagh'S friends in general ;—and that anqther Ni,ernbcr of the Cabinet, - comprehended in that de scription, had, (as I have since heard), retukd to concur in them. Had I been made acquainted with these circum stances, I should then have resigned ; and my resignation IA ould, at that time, - have taken pl'ace irittiout inconvenience or -embarrassment ; and without stirring those questions (no w-, 1 4 connected with the causes of my retirement) or-buujeding me to those misinterpretations of my_ conduct and mo tives, which have been produced by ,the .coinei &nee of my resignation with that .of . •the.Duke of Portland. • ' But, 'however this reserve maybe to be regretted; it is impossible to attribute the adOption of it, on the_ part of the Duke of Portland,. to ,any other motives, than to that ‘ gentleness of nature which eminently distinguished' him ; and which led him to endeavour (above all things) to.prevent political dif ferences from growing into personal dissensions; and to. aim at executing whatever arrangement might be expedient for improving or strengthening the Ad-. minsiration, with the concurrence (if possible) of all its existing Members. And no man who knows the affectionate respoia and attachment, which the manly and generous qualities of the Dake of Portland's mind were calculated to command, and which 1 invariably bore to him, will suspeet me of being willing to establish my own vinvication; at the , expellee of the slightest disrespe& to his memory, or pre judice to big fame. I have the honour to be, My Lord, your Lordship's Most obedient humble servant, GEORGIS CANNING. TO THE EARL CAIIIIIO7, &C. &C. &c. MY Loan,--The Statement, which has been published in the newspapers, in your Lordship's name, has decided a qoestion On ,which I had be fore been hesitating, as to the necessity of an authen tic detail of the transactions (so far as lam con verned in them . ; or am acquainted with them) to which that Statement refet-a. For that purpose, I think a dire& address toyour Lordship more decorcds, both towards your Lord ship and for myself, 'than an anonymous paragraph in a newspaper. It is with the -most painfUl reluelance that I recur to a subjea, which, so far as it concerns Lord Castlereagh . and myself, had been settled, in a manner, which is usually, I believe, consi. dered as final. Discussions of the causes of dispute more com monly precede, than follow the extreme appeal to whch Lord Castlereagh resorted ; and when, after, mature consideration, his Lordship had determined to resort to that appeal in the first instance, I should have thought, that such a choice, deliberately made, would have bedn felt by his friends to be equally conclusive upon them, as upon himself. But your Lordship needs not to be informed, how assiduously my charader has been assailed by wri ters in the newspapers, espousing Lord Castlereagh's quarrel, and supposed (I trust, most injuriously) to be his Lordship's particular friends. The perversions and misrepresentations of ano nyinotis writers, however, would not have extorted from rue any reply. But, to them succeeded the, publication of Lord Castlereagh's letter to me of the 19th of September. I entirely disbelieve that Lord Castlereagh, and I distindly deny that I myself, had any knowledge of this publication. But, by what means it matters ndt, the letter is before the world; and though the course originally chosen by Lord Castlereagh precluded me from of fering any explanation to him ;—the course which has since been adopted on his behalf (though un doubtedly without his privity), might perhaps have been considered as rendering such an explanation due to myself. It is, however, only since your Lordship's publication that I have felt it to be indis pensably necessary. The statement on my behalf, which has also found its way (without my consent and against my wish) into the public papers, was written under a sense of delicacy and restraint as to the particulars of the transadtion, which, from the charader of the transadion itself, must always continue to prevail in a oat dsgrge; -btat from whigb, Wodaesday, toe ti th of o:Aober, the lay on which I gave up the Seals,, I had not an opi attirnity of soliciting any, dispensation. ' ,pt . the indulgence which I then most humbly sd lic;te`d, I trust I shall be alsle to avail Myself stitliCi: ently fae my oiku vindication; without losing sight of those considerations of duty and propriety; by which the use'of such an indulgence Mtist. necessarily be regulated and confined. ••• It is stated in Lord Castlereagh • s Letter,. ,« Tha. I had demanded and prbetired from the Dtrke of Portland, before the rising ol Parliament,, a promise for Lord Castlereagh's removal from the War De partment ; that, by this promise,• Lord Castle-. reagh's situation, as a Minister of the Crown, was' made dependent .upon my pleasure ; and thatrhis promise I afterwards thought myself entitled to en force ;" _ . " That, after and notwithstanding this. virtual su persessio❑ of Lord Castlertiagh in \ his office, "allow ed him to originate and condu6t the ExpeclitiOn to the Scheldt.;" Ahd that, during the whole period, I knew that the agitation, and the decision, of the question for his removal, were concealed from him; and was party to this concealment." Lord Castlereagh -indeed admits, Thit he " has no right, as a public man, to re sent my . demanding Jipon public grounds, hii re moval from his office, or even from the Administra tion, as a condition of my continuing a Member of the Government." . But he contends, that a proposition " justifiable in itself," ought not to have been " executed in an unjustifiable manner;" and he makes me responsi ble for the manner in which the " Head of the Ad- , ministration," and some Members of the GOvern men!, " supposed to be his (Lord 'Castlereagh's) friends," executed the proposition, which he' at., tributes to me. He is ready to acknowledge, indeed, " that I pressed for a disclosure, at the same time that I pressed for a decision ; and that the disclOsure - was resisted by the Duke of Portland and his (Lord Cas tlereagh's) supposed friends." . But in this circumstance,. Lord Castlereagh pro, fesses not to see any justification of what he conceives to have been .my cOndutt towards him ;—because, by acquiescing in- the advice or entreaties of his " supposed friends," I admitted-" an authority" on their part, " which I must have known them not to possess;"---because, by " pressing for disclosure," - shewed: my own sense of the " unfairness of concealment;—and because, with that sense,. I ought," (as he conceives me not to have done), "- to have availed myself of the same alternatiye,--- narpely, my own resignation,—to enforce disclosure . , which I did to enforce decision." Without offering a single word in the way, of ar— gument,. I, shall, by A distil - id detail of facts in the. order of their dates, suhstantiate my contradietion of these charges. . . I shall only premise, Ist—That I had (as is admitted by. Lord Castle reagh) an unquestionKble right to require, on public grounds, a change in the, War Department, tender ing, at the same time, the alternative of. my own re signation. 2dly—(Wl - eit no man at all acquainted course of public busiuesi, t that the re gular, effeanal, and straight-forward course ..for bringing that alternative to . issue, was to state it di: rectly to the " Head .of. the Administration,"—the King's Chief Minister,—to be laid by that Minister before the King.! . • .. I proceed to a 'detail of facts. 0, .• April the.beginning tsf April, I addressed a letter to the Duke of , Portland, containing a repre sentation on the State of MI Administration"; and expressing my wish and • intention, unless . ,"Soute chan ge were effected in it, to resign: April 4to ti. --Upon the Duke of Portland's re quiring a more detailed ,explanation, as to the mo tives of my proffered resignation, I stated among other things, that a change either in my own De partment or in Lord .Castiereagh's, appeared to me to be expedient for the public service. I stated my perfect willingness that the alternative should be de cided for my retirement ; and only requested that the deciiion might (if possible) take place before the re -commencement 'of besiness in Parliament after the Easter holidays. The Duke of Portland requested me to suspend' the execution of my intention to resign; wishing to have an opportunity of consulting with some of our Colleagues, before be determined what advice to lay before the King. , April 16—TheEaster holidays thus passed away.— , On the t tub of April, shortly after his Grace's return to town from Bulstrode, the Duke of Portlaed open ! ed the subjeet-to one . ofthe Members of , the"Cabinet, whose name, .not having been hitherto brought for ward, I do not think it necessary to mention.—. Your Lordship is perfe&ly acquainted with it.- By the Duke of Portland's desire, I had a com munication with that Member of the Cabinet, with in a very few days after his interview with the Duke of Portland. He strongly represented the dif ficulty of making any new arrangement ;during the sit ting of Parliatneet,and urged me to.defer the pressing my own resignation till the end of the Session. To Ibis recommendation I did not promise to accede ; but we agreed (whether upon his suggestion or upon mine I am not confident), that, at all events, no step whatever could properly be taken, until after the de cision of the question upon the Writership s—which was about this time brought forward in the House of Commons. April 25.—That question was decided on Tuesday the 25th of April. • April 28.—0 n Friday the 28th, :the Duke of Portland communicated fully with your Lordship ; and informed me, as the result of that communica tion, that your Lordship thought a change in Lord Castlereagh's situation in the Government desirable, provided it could be eifeoed honourably for Lord Castlereagh, and that it " could be reconciled to Lord Castlereagh's feelings." From this period, I understood that your Lordship was constantly consulted by the Duke of Portland in every. step of the tratisaaion. Other Members of the Cabinet were also consulted by the Duke of Portland; but how many of them, or at what precise periods, I neither knew at the time, nor can now undertake to say. Shortly after your Lordship's first interview with the Duke of Portland (I am su re before the sth of Ma fi that-Member' of the Cabinet with whom bit truce i scl iirst commniticeed, repoileu to men 5u,..f, 7 gestion of your Lordship's of a chanl . p of ofNx for Lord Castlereagh, evidently,ciculated on the pritki: pies which_ your Lordship had stated as indisper ble to suif,i a change: . Whether this cohirtitinicatioti to me was in the name of a, direa message firini your Lordship, m'tatily - know. Bat I titt'ior:. stood distinarthat you knew Of its being made id me;—and that whatever observation I might Make upon it, was to be reported to your Lordship. 'that I olaseivecl upon , it was in substance; that it was riot for.me to presum,e to say, what change would fie proper; that I had done all'that had thouglirniy 7 , self either called upon or at liberty to do; stating to the Duke of POrtland my opinions; a`hd my in tentions'to resign . ; .that the Duke of Portland 'could 'either propose any change or obtain the . neees sarr auth;itity for ca'ryiOg it into 'etfeti,.-3nd that I : therefore recommended that yOur.Lordhiel should state your . suotiestion to the Duke of '.Port•-• land. - • . Mny 5.-=-On 'the sth : of May•the Duke of Part;. land informed we, that he had determined to lay the' whole snblea, on the following Wedneseby below hrii Majesty.. • May loth.--..0n Wednesday' the i 0 th bf M y, 116 informed me that he had donee so'; and that his jesty had been graciotily pl e as e d t o sny , t h at , h e would take the subject into his serious deration. May 3 1 st.-00 Wednesday, the 31 st of May; tip; prehending it to be possible, that my intention Might not have been fully explained to hiS Majesty, atpd thinking it my duty to leave no doubt upo n it; I . humbly repeated to his Majesty the representationt which I had before made to the Duke of Portland and humbly tendered my resignation. I 'received there upon his Majesty's .tracious cominands to retain ray situation until his Majesty should ' have c,:nisidered - the whole subject. June Bth.—Sume time in the course of the next week, I think on the 8 Ova June, : Abe Duke of Portland stated to me, that he had received his Ma... jesty's commands to propose, and to carry into tea, at the end of the Session of Parliamezit, an ar . a, rangement for a partial change in the War ;)pat:;-_ went. The particulars of this arrangement I du not think it proper to detail;. feeling it my duty to myself strictly to what is absolutely ,necessary for the explanation of my own condua. It is sufficieitt to state, that the objea.of this arrangement was not the removal of Lora , Castlereagh, but,a new distfie bution of the' business of the War Deix.sulinenti whereby that part of it which was conneled with political' correspondence would have been tratisfared to the Foreign:Office ; and the business of another office, thentVacant, would have been transferred to Lord Castlereagh. It is only necessary to add } that the effea 61 this new distribution would.mot. have been to take out of Lord Castlereagh's• hands th* auperintendanCe of - the Expedition to the SelrtAtit Junes 3th—On the 13th of June, I wrote. to Duke of Portland, signifying to him that,' although such an arrangement bad . never t:titere4 into my contemplation, and although J did noo think it cal= culated to'remedy lin.. the Ltiff ni , its which bad i n ., duced me to bring the stat e . of the ./-lA:toini .~~ t~~tl under his Graice'i conshieration, I was ready, sk..tar as I w.ts concerned, to undertake arid.4iset;art,' to the best'ot ability, atiy thity vdtich his Maj..2s.iy Might be graciously pleased to devolve upon me j'. but I expressed at the same time g,reat doubts, whj ther this arrangement could be ex-p t..61e.c1.t0 - be accep. table to Lord Castlereagh; or, in all its partS, satts faaory to the public feeling.' June 18.-041 Sunday, the 18th of June,:(PArlia ment heing expected to rise on the 20th or e Ist) I wrote to the Duke of Portland ; to. enquire whether this arrangement, or any other waS t o t a k e p l ace stating to him, that «if things remained As they then- were, I %vas determined not to remain id office."' June answer, the Duke nf Portland men.; , tioned to me a new plan of arraugement, altogether different from that, which he had,been authorised to carry into effect; and stated that he had sent tar your Lordship, and the.other Member of the Ca binet with whom yoUr Lordship and the Duke 'of' Portland had,been in constant combfunicationoo co operate with him, in-foiwarding this new'plan a - and to 'urge Lord-Castlereagh to consent to it: The.partieulars of this new plan, 1 do not think it necessary to state, as I learnt from the Duke of Portland, either3ile'next day, or the day following it, that to this-plan :Lord- Castlereagh certainly not be brought to agrde. 'Whether this was known to his Grace only.: from your Lordship,- or . through your Lordship, from Lord Castlereagh himself, I was not apprised. • June 21. , --On Wednesday the 21st, the day ,of the rising of Parliament, .1 was assured by the Duke of Portland, that, the specific arrangement which he had in the first instance proposed, viz. the new dis tribution of the business of -the — War Department; should be ,carried into -effect; and that his Majesty had direeted him to, desire, your Lord Ship to com municate his decision -to Lord Castlereagh, • June 27.—On.Tuesday, the 27th, finding that no communication 'had:been yet made to -Lord Castle , teagh, wrote to the Duke of Portland in terrlis of the, strongest remonstrance, both againSt the cealtoent and the delay ; and intimated my deter mination to recur to my original intention, and to press the acceptance of my resignation.. June '28.----Accordingly, on the following day, Wednesday, the 28th of June, I had an antlienee of the King, in which I humbly and earnestly repeated to his Majesty the tender of my'resignation, • June 28.,--That same evening the Duke of Port land.informed me, that he had that day signified to your Lordship the King's desire, that your Lord ,, ship should communicate the intended arrangement: to Lord Castlereagh ; and that the communication was to be n\ade by your Lordship as soon as the Ex pedition had sailed ; .which. it was expected would be in less that\ a fortnight from that time. June s,—But befdre this fortnight elapsed, on Wednesday, the sth of July,, the Duke of Port land informed me, that, in consideration of the dif ficulties attending the' proposed arrangement l he, and those - . with whom he had consulted ) were of opinion, that another should be substituted for it, which he trusted-. would also be more agreeable to me. He told me that , hopes were entertained that your Lordship would determine to orii:r your resignation, for the purpose of facilitating a general nrrangeineut in, which a uomplew Ghauge in thcWar Department